Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Maine Children's Wireless Protection Act: Update

Maine: Children's Wireless Protection Act (LD 1013) Update

May 8, 2013
The work session scheduled today before the Joint Committee on Energy,
Utilities and Technology of the Maine State Legislature regarding Andrea Boland's Children's Wireless
Protection Act was tabled. The following individuals and organizations have submitted public hearing testimony. See links below to download documents.

The CTIA's testimony (dated May 2, 2013) submitted by Gerard Keegan made the following assertions:

the March 29, 2013 FCC Notice of Inquiry (NOI) states that the FCC "continues to have confidence in the current exposure limits"; that the FCC does not expect consumers to keep cell phones "at least a specified distance (up to 2.5 cm) from the head during normal use to ensure compliance with SAR limits"; and that exceeding the SAR limit does not necessarily imply unsafe operation, nor do lower SAR quantities imply safer operation;

federal law preempts state governments from mandating cell phone labeling;

regarding the CTIA's lawsuit to block San Francisco's cell phone right to know law: the "Ninth Circuit ruled in the CTIA's favor, finding that the FCC has concluded that cell phones are safe and the ordinance's requirements were misleading"; "Accordingly, the court permanently enjoined the City from enforcing its ordinance"; and "CTIA and San Francisco have entered into a settlement agreement that would permanently bar the City from enforcing its cell phone labeling and disclosure ordinance."